The Federal High Court in Abuja has rebuked Johnmary Jideobi, the plaintiff, and his lawyer, Ndubuisi Ukpai, for lack of diligence in pursuing a suit aimed at preventing former President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting the 2027 presidential election. On Friday, Justice Peter Lifu described their attitudes, which had continued to stall proceedings, as unacceptable and imposed a fine of N1 million against the plaintiff in favor of the ex-president.
Court Orders Accelerated Hearing
Justice Lifu stated: "I have carefully and painstakingly considered all the submissions and prayers of the learned counsel in this matter. As this court had earlier ruled and ordered that this case has a character of politics. I have taken judicial notice of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s timetable. The duty of this court is to ensure that political cases are given accelerated hearing and disposed of expeditiously."
The judge reiterated the provisions of the National Judicial Policy in case management and issued the following orders: The plaintiff, who filed the suit on October 6, 2025, and had not served the necessary processes, was granted a grace period of two hours from 10:30 am to serve all processes to the second and third defendants (INEC and the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF) unfailingly. The second and third defendants were ordered to file and serve their responses, if any, before 11 am on Monday, May 18, 2026. By consent of counsel, the suit was adjourned to May 18, 2026, at 12 noon for definite hearing of the originating summons and all pending applications.
Plaintiff's Delay and Court's Observations
The judge expressed surprise that Jideobi had yet to serve INEC and the AGF six months after filing the suit. Additionally, he noted that counsel for the ex-president, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), informed the court on May 8 that they learned about the suit through the media and decided to file and serve their processes. The judge also observed that on May 11, neither Jideobi, who is also a lawyer, nor Ukpai was in court, despite the hearing time being set at 2 pm at the plaintiff’s lawyer’s instance on May 5.
Justice Lifu further noted that although Uche requested a N5 million cost, the request was not granted in the interest of fair hearing.
Late Appearance and Apology
When the case was called on Friday, neither Jideobi nor Ukpai was initially present. However, Uche and the AGF’s counsel, J. D. Esho, were in court. Esho stated that her office was served with the ex-president’s response to the suit on May 11 but had not yet been served with the plaintiff’s originating summons. The registrar also confirmed that INEC had not been served with the plaintiff’s processes, although it had received a hearing notice for the day.
Midway into the proceedings, Ukpai entered the court and apologized for his lateness, explaining, "My lord, I am sorry. I am for the plaintiff. Our vehicle broke down on the way." After taking submissions from all lawyers, the judge adjourned the matter until May 18 for definite hearing of all pending applications and the substantive suit at 12 noon.
